The ultimate goal of Fretboard Toolboxes is not to memorize all of the notes of each key, scale, and chord -- it's to help you build mental & visual maps of the common shapes you'll use for chords & scales, which leads to strong ear and muscle memory!

​If you think of this progression as a V-IV-I in A Major, and play the A Major pentatonic scale, it sounds warm. But if you think of it as a I-bVII-IV in E Major, you can play the E minor pentatonic (sounds darker) OR E Major pentatonic (sounds warmer)!

Now see how many of these chord progressions you can play along with when you don't know which track is coming up next! Usethe Roman numerals that show up in the audio player as your clues &practice learning those Roman numeralshere!

This is where you really start going a long ways towards training your ear and building the muscle memory you need to play songs "on the fly"!

Scale degree

1

2

b3

3

4

b5

5

6

b7

7

A Major pentatonic

A

B

C#

D

E

F#

G#

E minor pentatonic

E

G

A

B

D

Scale degree

1

2

b3

3

4

b5

5

6

b7

7

E minor pentatonic

E

F#

G

G#

A

*

B

C#

D

D#

Scale degree

1

2

b3

3

4

b5

5

6

b7

7

E minor pentatonic

E

F#

G

G#

A

*

B

C#

D

D#

Chord Name

Roman Num.

Chord Notes

E Major (E)

I

A, C#, E

G Major (G)

bIII

G, B, D

A Major (A)

IV

A, C#, E

D Major (D)

bVII

D, F#, A

Take a look at all of the chords listed on this page, and then look at the five minor pentatonic notes in white boxes. The root note of all of the (Major) chords on this page are minor pentatonic notes!

Scale degree

1

2

b3

3

4

b5

5

6

b7

7

E minor pentatonic

E

F#

G

G#

A

*

B

C#

D

D#

Scale degree

1

2

b3

3

4

b5

5

6

b7

7

E minor pentatonic

E

F#

G

G#

A

*

B

C#

D

D#

Chord Name

Roman Num.

Chord Notes

E Major (E)

I

E, G#, B

G Major (G)

bIII

G, B, D

A Major (A)

IV

A, C#, E

Noodle around with the minor pentatonic scale while this track is being played, and then notice which notes sound best over which chord. The best sounding notes are most often part of the chord that's currently being played. It's like this in all keys!

Flat-7 chords (bVII) get used lots in all kinds of music including bluesy-rock, bluegrass, country, and more. They're used WAY more often than the "real" 7 chord, called a "diminished" chord. ​

Experiment with the E minor pentatonic, and then the E Major pentatonic (adding in some A & D notes) for different sounds!

Chord Name

Roman Num.

Chord Notes

E Major (E)

I

E, G#, B

G Major (G)

bIII

G, B, D

IMPORTANT: In Fretboard Toolboxes, any time you see a chord or a note in italics, it means that something is outside of the key.

Each "rule-breaking" note or chord has it's own sound. When you recognize a rule is being broken, try to figure out how it's being broken & learnthe uniquesound ofeach "rule-breaker"!

Chord Name

Roman numeral in E Major

Chord Notes

E Major (E)

I

E, G#, B

A Major (A)

IV

A, C#, E

B Major (B)

V

B, D#, F#

This progression is another one that shows the power of scales to change the songs feel. If you play the E Major pentatonic scale with this progression, it sounds warm & sweet. However, if you play the E minor pentatonic scale, it sounds super dark! Try mixing and matching them and see what you come up with!​